Chronicles of The Grey Fox
by TheMusicMan1995
Summary: Five years after Tokyo, the Titans are still protecting Jump City from all forms of evil. Little do they know, a master thief known as The Grey Fox has made JC his new home, and he's determined to prove himself as the greatest criminal of all time. The line between good and bad will become blurred as the Fox struggles with his own morality, and his feelings for a certain demoness.
1. Act I: First Impressions, Pt I

I take a deep breath and, for just a moment, look down at the street, rather than the twenty-two story building I'm scaling. Just about every person I see a few hundred feet below me appears to be drunk, soon to be drunk, or unconcious. I chuckle, pondering that tommorow morning will likely have the largest number of recorded hangovers in the history of this city. There they all are, wandering around the streets like bafoons, and here I am, about to rob one of the most corrupt and heavily guarded banks on the west coast. Not a bad way to spend my first New Years Eve in Jump City.

I fire up the Heads Up Display on my goggles, which immediately provides me with all the information about my surroundings. The time of day, which reads 11:47 PM, the temperature outside, 21 degrees, an anomaly for southern California, and the knowledge that I still have six more floors to scale before I reach my destination. I feel my heart rate begin to accelerate, and I close my eyes to take yet another breath.

_Relax, Ben, _I think to myself. _You've done this a hundred times._

I silence my thoughts for the remainder of the journey upwards, before my HUD flashes a prompt that I've reached the nineteenth floor. I smile.

_Time to go to work._

I reach down at my belt, into my "bag of tricks," and pull out a spark plug, normally used on a car. I ball my hand into a fist, crushing it and revealing the porcelain inside. I tilt my arm backwards and throw the porcelain shards at the window, which shatters it silently, and I climb through the window into the building.

It's dark. I switch to night vision on my goggles, revealing a large room with a computer, some artwork on the walls, an American flag and even a fireplace. Not only am I on the right floor, I've stumbled into the manager's office. _Jackpot, _I think as I remove the duffel bag from my shoulder and move over to the computer and boot it up. It does the little jingle that all computers do when they start, I reach into my bag of tricks once again and pull out a small flash drive that I've affectionately named, "The Bug."

I plug the bug into the computer's hard drive, and it immediately goes to work, bypassing all the security files not only on this computer, but on every computer in the building. I smile as a window pops up on the screen, reading **SECURITY SYSTEMS OFFLINE. **My smile grows even wider as **CAMERA SYSTEMS OFFLINE **follows a few seconds afterwards. I glance down at the corner of my goggles to look at the time. It reads 11:55 PM.

_Shit, _I think. I only have five minutes to find the cash and get out of here before the security systems reset themselves at midnight. I should have started this job earlier in the evening, but regrets are going to get me nowhere. I pull up the schematics of this floor on the computer, and upload them to my HUD via the bug, sling the duffel bag back over my shoulder, unplug the flash drive from the computer, and slip out of the manager's office. I turn left and run to the end of the hallway, as quickly and silently as possible. I pause as I come to a corner, and my HUD flashes, reading **2 HOSTILES DETECTED. **I snap against the wall, and overhear two voices coming from down the hall, talking about a football game or something. No doubt security guards. I reach into my bag once again, and pull out a small vial of knockout gas.

I peek my head around the corner, the guards too caught up in their own conversation to notice me, and I quickly toss the vial down the hall at their location. I hear the _hissssss _of the gas being released, a quick "What the fuck?" and finally, the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. I take a deep breath, and hold it in as I sprint through the cloud of gas, so to avoid being knocked out myself. I reach the end of the hallway, out of the gas's reach, and I let out my breath. I turn around the corner, and spot a door with VAULTS printed on the glass. I smile.

I open the door into a large, open room, with eight massive vaults across the room from me behind teller's desks. I jump over the desks, and make a beeline for the vault in the middle, which reads SB-129. This is the one I'm looking for. I take out the bug once more, and plug it into the security panel, as a computerized voice speaks out, _"Password accepted. Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot." _The vault creaks open, and my jaw drops as I gaze upon just how much money is in this vault.

Before I can even say, _I should have brought a bigger bag, _something unexpected happens.

The alarm goes off.

I glance down at the time on my HUD, which reads 12:02 AM, and in that moment, there just aren't enough curse words. I go to work quickly.

* * *

Five minutes later, my bag is stuffed to the brim with cash, cash, and more cash, and I've barely even made a dent in Cobblepot's stash. My mind begins to race, hastily planning out an escape, when my HUD flashes again, this time reading **5 HOSTILES DETECTED. **I plug the bug into a teller's computer, which are on 24/7, and pull up the camera for the main lobby. My stomach turns as the video feed pops up on the screen. It's them...

_"Titans, split up and find them!" _I hear the leader say, and the other four follow his instructions. Thankfully, I've done my research about these five before attempting this job, and I hastily pull up their files in my HUD and review them as quickly as I can, the alarm still blaring.

* * *

Nightwing. Formerly known as Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans. Or these days, just the Titans. He's the only one without any sort of superhuman abilities, but he's still every bit as dangerous as his counterparts. Extensive knowledge of most known martial arts, and like me, uses several technologically advanced gadgets to aid him in battle, including electrically-charged escrima sticks, traded out for formerly a bo staff.

Cyborg. After a serious accident nearly ten years ago, which also claimed the life of his mother, his body was rebuilt using state of the art robotics. Superhuman levels of strength, speed, and stamina. One account states that he once ripped a five story building off its foundations, and threw it at a giant monster made of out slime. Gross. Can re-wire his hands into cannons by which to fire blasts of electrical energy.

Starfire. A native of the planet Tamaran, her race is born with the ability to fly, fire bolts of pure energy both from their hands and eyes, and a level of brute strength and stamina that vastly exceeds even that of Cyborg's. Extremely dangerous, but also very naive and carefree.

Beast Boy. A green-skinned misfit with the ability to shift into the form of any known species on Earth. Or other planets, as a few reports suggest. Not exactly the smartest member of the Titans, or the most skilled in combat, but still should not be taken lightly, as he is known to be able to change into an extremely dangerous beast that resembles many mythical creatures such as the werewolf, El Chupacabra, or Bigfoot

Raven. A half-demoness born to the intergalactic demon Trigon, and a mortal woman. Due to her demonic heritage, she is easily the most dangerous out of the five. Reports on what exactly her powers are besides flight often conflict each other. Regardless, she should be completely avoided if at all possible.

* * *

I resist the urge to bang my head against the wall. The Titans are in the building, looking for me, and at this rate, with the alarm blaring and their combined abilities, they're going to find me. I weigh my options. One thing I'm not very excellant in is hand-to-hand combat, so plunging headfirst into a five-on-one fight against the Titans would not end well for me. I could always jump out a window and avoid the entire team altogether, but since the alarm is going off, they'll all be locked shut, and it's not worth injuring myself on broken glass. I gulp. My only option now is to get out the old fashioned way...

I gotta take the stairs.


	2. Act I: First Impressions, Pt II

I waste little time, bursting through the doors of the vault room back into the hallway. I scan the hall quickly, looking for a way down, before taking notice of a pair of elevators roughly twenty feet down the hall from me. I make a break for them, until **HOSTILE APPROACHING **flashes on my HUD and the elevator beeps. I look at the number on the elevator door, and it says 17. They know where I am. With no time to hide, I brace myself for a fight, knowing that it's not going to end well for me.

"Son of a bitch," I curse out loud. It seems as if the whole job is blown, and that in a few hours, I'll be on my way to prison, when the doors open and he steps out.

"Cyborg, I presume?" I say to him, trying to stay calm and collected on the outside, even though I'm a bit terrified on the inside.

"That's right," he says calmly, as his hand shifts into a cannon. He points it at me. "And you're under arrest."

Before I can respond, an idea pops into my head. I smile.

"Not this time, tinman."

Before Cyborg can react, I reach down at my belt, and I throw the bug at him. It latches onto the side of his head, and for a moment he is confused.

"What the hell was that? You really think a little flash drive is gonna be enough to hurt me?"

Then the machine goes to work. The sound of sparks, Cyborg screams, and then he collapses to the floor. The bug has temporarily deactivated all his electrical systems. I silently thank whatever higher power there may or may not be, before grabbing the bug off the robot's unconcious body, and give it a quick kiss.

"Thank you, technology."

* * *

I can't risk using the elevator, otherwise the other four Titans could possibly track me to the lobby, and chances are they'll be angry about their friend. Instead, I reach down to my belt once more, and grab a tool for just the occasion. A makeshift car jack. I slide the tool in between the elevator doors, and turn it to pry them open, before rushing into the elevator, and climbing out the top of the box, and into the elevator shaft. I fire up my "sticky gloves" once more, and make the biggest leap possible off of the top of the elevator, and thankfully, I'm able to latch onto the wall of the shaft, and I begin to scale downwards.

I have to admit, I feel pretty good about myself. I've just taken down one of the Titans' strongest members in under thirty seconds, so it's hard not to get a little cocky. I quickly shake my head, and remind myself that there are still four more where he came from, and all of them are dangerous in there own right.

**HOSTILE APPROACHING**

Speak of the devil.

I remove one of my hands from the wall of the elevator shaft, and turn sideways a bit, just in time to see her floating up to me.

"So you must be Starfire, right?" I ask her, trying to stall as I think of a way to escape.

"Yes! You must give yourself up and return the money immediately!" She says, her eyes glowing a brilliant shade of green.

"You clearly don't understand the trouble I've gone through to be here." I respond sarcastically.

"I will not ask again." She says, her hands beginning to glow as well. "Surrender or I will be forced to do the kicking of the butt!"

Another idea pops into my head, and I smile.

"Well, since you put it like, I think I will give myself up!"

I'm not sure, but I could swear I almost see her smiling.

"But you'll have to catch me first!"

I deactivate my gloves, and jump downward, welcoming gravity's embrace as I begin to free fall down the elevator shaft. Starfire rushes after me, the speed of her flight only just surpassing the pull of gravity. As I fall, I reach into my bag of tricks once more, and pull out a gas mask. I sense she's getting closer and closer to me as the seconds tick by, so I waste no time in tying the mask around my head, and whipping out another small vial of knockout gas. At last she catches me, thankfully just before we hit another elevator.

"There. I have caught you." She says as she holds me in midair with her. "You will surrender now, yes?"

"Sorry." I say without enthusiasm. "That was sarcasm."

I put the vial right in front of her face, and release the gas. The _hissss _of the gas being released sounds out, and Starfire lets me go as she succumbs to a fit of coughing. We both fall a few feet onto the elevator below. I land on my feet, and she on her back, unconcious. I look around the elevator shaft for a moment, before spotting a pair of doors just above me. I fire up my gloves once again and begin scaling upward. As I reach the doors, I plant a sticky bomb on them, before jumping back down onto the elevator to be clear of the blast. I detonate the charge, and the nearly deafening boom sounds althrough the shaft. I climb back up, through the hole in the wall, and plan my next move.

* * *

I throw the gas mask to the wayside, before quickly glancing around the hall, looking for any sort of exit, anything that will separate me from this gaping hole in the wall where the elevator doors used to be. No doubt the other three Titans, wherever they are in the building, heard it and are on their way now. I decide on the glass double doors right in front of me. I burst through them, into a massive office room with countless aisles of cubicles and computers. I briefly consider just saying _fuck it _with the elaborate escape through the building, and risking injury by jumping through a window, when my HUD flashes yet again.

**HOSTILE APPROACHING**

Before I can even look around to see where the next Titan is coming from, he tackles me from behind, sending me plummeting to the floor, we struggle for a moment, before I mange to get my feet under him, and push him off of me with my legs. He flies into a cubicle, which collapses on impact, and I quickly regain my footing.

"Beast Boy, right?" I say as my chest begins to hurt from my accelerated heart beat. I need to get in better shape before doing this again.

"I go by Changeling now." The green-skinned misfit says angrily as he picks himself up.

"Well, then. I'll be sure to update your file once I get back to the hideout."

"You won't get the chance." he says, before he shifts forms into a green-skinned bull, and charges at me.

_Fuck._

I jump out of the way, just in time to avoid the bull's charge, as he instead demolishes a second cubicle. He scrambles, realizing that he missed me, and turns around to try again, but this time I'm ready. I leap into the air with all the strength in my legs, and just before Changeling hits me, I literally grab the bull by the horns and hoist myself onto his back. He thrashes around with every ounce of strength he has in his animalistic body, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to this room, and very nearly throws me off more than once. After a few moments of struggling, I remove one of hands from his horn, ball it into a fist, and bash it right into his eye. Changeling makes a horrid squealing sound in this form, and finally suceeds in throwing me off of him. I collide with the wall, which knocks the breath out me for just a moment. As I regain my senses, I hear him, once again in his human form, yelling in pain.

"Eye shot! Not cool, dude!"

I don't waste a second. I quickly pick myself off the ground while Changeling is disoriented, I charge at him, and firmly plant my foot onto the side of his head. He falls to the ground, unconcious like his alien and robotic comerades.


	3. Act I: First Impressions, Pt III

I rest my hands on my knees for a moment and catch my breath. In truth, I'm a bit disappointed. I had thought the Titans would have been more of a challenge. and yet here I stand, over the unconscious body of yet another of Jump City's supposedly legendary protectors, with two others also knocked out on higher floors of the building. As my heart rate begins to decelerate, I rack my brain, thinking of any possible escape from this building in which I could possibly avoid the other two Titans, as the fight with Changeling has left me exhausted. I quickly scan the room, looking past the thousands of dollars worth of destroyed office equipment, searching for any way out of here so as to remain unnoticed, when I spot a vent on a wall just below the ceiling.

I snatch a screwdriver off of a nearby, not-yet-destroyed desk, and sprint over the wall. Giving myself a boost off of a file cabinet, I unscrew the bolts holding the grate to the wall. As the last bolt comes out of its hole, the grate falls, banging off the file cabinet, and then landing on the floor all while causing a good bit of noise. I curse to myself, knowing that if either of the other two Titans are nearby, they'll have definitely heard that. I waste no time climbing into the air duct, before pulling up the schematics on my HUD once more.

A map of the air duct system pops up on my goggles, and with it, I formulate a path that leads straight down to the main lobby, my best, and only, bet of getting out of here. I take a deep breath, silently praying that I don't run into the other two Titans, and begin crawling.

* * *

Five minutes have passed. I'm still crawling through the air ducts, and thankfully, haven't run into any more complications. As I approach the vent leading into the main lobby, I peek through the grate, trying to get a decent view of the room, making sure there aren't any surprises waiting for me. I can only see a limited portion of the room, but after a moment of scanning, I'm satisfied that the lobby is safe. I adjust myself, putting my foot in front of the grate, before kicking at it repeatedly. After a few strong kicks, the iron grate comes unscrewed and falls to the floor below with a loud crash. I push myself out of the vent, and jump down to the floor 20 something feet below. I bend my knees on impact so as to lessen gravity's blow to my legs. I quickly begin to sprint over to the door, almost home free.

But then I feel a sharp blow to my back, powerful enough to launch me a few feet away. I fall down, but quickly regain my footing, and turn to face my attacker.

_Shit, _I think. _It's him._

"Let me guess. Nightwing?" I say, trying to play the head games that have so far worked on the other Titans.

He doesn't say anything. He just pulls his escrima sticks from his belt and charges at me.

_Fuck._

I go on the defensive, dodging the barrage of punches he throws at me, each blow coming closer to landing than the last. At last I see an opening, I catch one of his fists, and quickly retaliate with one of my own, striking Nightwing square in the nose. He staggers for a moment, but quickly reconstitutes himself and resumes his attack, this time with an added fury. I try to continue evading his blows, but he is too fast for me this time. As his fist connects with my jaw, I find myself certain that he disjointed it. But the leader of the Titans isn't done. His other fist connects from below, and before I have time to react, I feel his foot slam into my stomach, knocking every last ounce of air out of my lungs. I don't even have time to drop to my knees before Nightwing readies his escrima sticks, jamming both of them into each side of my neck, sending a surge of electrical shock through my nervous system.

At this point, I begin to think I might be in a little over my head. Nightwing is clearly on another level than his counterparts. He is focused, caculating, and disciplined, and if I don't pull a proverbial ace out of my sleeve, I may be done for.

I drop to my knees, unable to move from the pain I'm in at the moment. Before I even get a chance to return the air into my lungs, Nightwing's other foot connects with the side of my head, with enough force behind it to launch me a few feet away. I cling to conciousness, desperately fighting to not black out. As long as I'm still concious, I can get out of this. I can hear him adjust something on his belt, probably putting away his escrima sticks, thinking me beaten. My mind races, as I know I only have a few moments before he realizes I'm still concious. Thinking quickly, I make a desperate grab for my own belt, pulling out one of my last tools that I brought with me for this job. The pistol.

Still on the ground, I quickly remove the gun from its holster, and fire directly at Nightwing's chest. The machine fires without a sound, thanks to the custom silencer installed a few nights prior, and connects a few inches away from his heart. He stumbles back, putting his hand to his chest, surprised to find a dart instead of a bullet wound.

He pulls the dart out of his chest, and I notice his legs starting to wobble.

As Nightwing drops to his knees, he asks, "What's in this?"

"Oh, you know," I begin to asnwer as I pick myself up off the floor. "Bear tranquilizer."

He collapses completely to the ground, desperately trying to cling to conciousness.

"Who..." he begins, having difficulty making the words come out. "...are you?"

"Call me, the Grey Fox." I respond, blurting out the first name that comes to mind.

After a few moments, the hero is out completely out cold.

I've done it. I've defeated the leader of the Titans.

I can't help but feel a bit proud of myself at this moment. I know the smile on my face must be ridiculous to look at right now, but I don't care. After a night like tonight, I deserve to feel proud. I quickly reload the tranq pistol, and check to make sure the duffel bag full of freshly stolen money is still securely strapped to my shoulder, and, my ego still inflated, I stroll out of the main lobby right through the front door.

Straight into a wall of cops.

* * *

_Damn it, _I think. I should have known the front door would be heavily guarded. Leave it to me to get wrapped up in my own victory and not pay attention to the most obvious things.

_"FREEZE!" _a cop shouts through a megaphone. _"Put your hands in the air where I can see them!"_

I comply, lifting my hands just above my head, my mind racing to find a way out of this. Making a run for it would just cause the cops to shoot, a good way for me to end up on a gurney. I could go back into the building and look for another way out, but that increases the risk of running into the last Titan, and after the fight with Nightwing, I'm in no condition for another brawl.

_"Alright, put the bag with the cash on the ground! Slowly!"_

Once again, I comply, removing the duffel bag from my shoulder and placing it beside me, moving at a snail's pace, so as to stall my arrest, and hopefully think of a way out. As I take off the bag, I scan my srroundings, although it's hard to see much with the police lights shining in my face. There's a small flight of stone steps in front of me, leading down onto the sidewalk, then the street where the police have their barricade set up. Around seven cop cars, and at least twice as many cops. There's a building directly across the street, much smaller than the bank, likely only a four or five floors high. I could probably make it up there with my grapple gun if I got a running start, but that would provoke the police to open fire.

_"Now the other bag!"_

I think he means my bag of tricks. The small bag I keep on my belt as house for my more "delicate" toys. I silently curse him, as I'll likely have no way of getting out of this without them.

_"Now empty it!"_

I comply once more, removing every last gadget in my bag and placing them at my feet. The bug. The pellets of knockout gas. The car jack. Until I find something I had forgotten about. A remote smoke bomb detonator.

How the hell did I forget that I had planned for this possibility? Just before beginning to scale the building earlier in the night, I planted several dozen smoke bombs down in the street in front of the main lobby. As luck would have it, right where the police have their barricade. I subtly press the detonation button, and a few seconds later, the vision of the cops are lost in a wall of smoke. I quickly gather my devices back into the bag, and sling the cask back over my shoulder. I begin running at the wall of smoke, all the while removing my grapple gun from my belt, and firing it at the rooftop opposite my position. Luckily, it connects perfectly, and I'm hoisted through the air, landing on the roof a moment later.

I've escaped the cops, and the Titans.

* * *

I rest my hands on my knees for a moment and take a deep breath. My emotions are a bit conflicted. On one hand, I've just singlehandedly robbed one of the most corrupt, heavily guarded banks on the west coast, and took down four fifths of the city's legendary team of vigilantes while I was at it. But I'm disappointed. It was far too easy. Only Nightwing offered me any sort of challenge, and even he wasn't expecting me to have a backup plan. The other three were little more than incompetent wannabes, and I didn't even run into the last of them. I stand back up, my face away from the scene below.

"That was too easy."

Before I can even think, I feel something take hold of me, pinning my arms to my torso, and lifting me into the air. I'm quickly spun around, greeted by the sight of none other than the last Titan, Raven, holding me prisoner in some sort of field of telepathic energy.

Me and my big mouth.


	4. Act I: First Impressions, Pt IV

"Me and my big mouth," I say out loud.

Raven doesn't even bother to respond. Being that I'm not fighting for my life, or at least my freedom, for once, I take the opportunity to get a good look at her. Or rather, what little of her body isn't covered by a dark blue cloak, and what little of her face isn't obscured by a hood. I take notice of the fact that she has grey skin, most likely due to the fact that she's only half human, or at least that's what the file I have on her says. I feel my heart rate increasing in my chest, as I know for certain that Raven is the most powerful out of all five of her team, and considering how badly Nightwing kicked my ass...

Raven, after floating in the air for the briefest of seconds, descends to the ground on the rooftop, still holding me prisoner inside her field of energy. She takes a deep breath, before her energy forcibly separates my duffel bag full of cash from my shoulder, plopping it on the ground right below me. Despite how futile it probably is, I opt to try the head games again.

"You know, what I'm about to say probably isn't going to make you let me go."

"Probably not." she says dryly, her voice low, a bit raspy, and definitely uninterested in what I have to say.

"You know who's bank account that money is from?"

Silence.

"A guy by the name of Oswald Cobblepot. You heard of him?"

I notice an eyebrow raise behind her hood. "Nightwing's told us about him every now and then. What about him?"

"Let's just say he's not exactly the nicest guy on the planet."

I hear her scoff.

"And by that I mean, he's a ruthless crime boss who gets off on hurting people. Hell, me taking this money from him is practically a public service!"

"Nice try." is her only response.

She reaches out from behind her cloak and sweeps it away, at which moment I find myself thinking, _Hel-lo. _Underneath the cloak, Raven is dressed in nothing but a skin-tight, jet black leotard, similar to a one piece bathing suit but with sleeves. She also has a pair of boots that match the cloak, but I'm still focused on the leotard. As if it weren't enough that she's wearing next to nothing, I take notice of the fact that the Titan has a fantastic body. She's slim and very toned, but not so much to the point that it's intimidating. I mean, she _is _intimidating, but not because of that. My eyes widen, and I can't help but do the old cliché whistle that most men do when they're ogling women.

She glares at me, and my blood runs cold as my eyes meet hers. If looks could kill...

Even though I'm scared beyond belief, I can't help but keep talking.

"So, uh... that leotard doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?"

I feel the field of energy tighten around me.

"Aw, come on. What'd I say?"

It tightens more.

"What's it gonna take to get you to lighten up? A comment about how good your legs look in the moonlight?"

This time, the field tightens so much that I can barely breathe, and I swear I hear Raven growl.

"Shutting up now." I manage to squeak out.

"Finally." she mumbles, as she reaches down to her waist.

Raven grabs at a device I can't quite make out, until she raises it to her face. It opens up like an old flip phone, but it's circular with a large "T" printed on it. Likely her communicator.

"Raven to Nightwing." She speaks into the device. "I've got him. I'm on a roof right across the street from the bank."

As expected, she gets no response. I can't help but chuckle.

"Nightwing, are you there?" she asks.

While Raven in distracted by her communicator, my eyes quickly dart around my line of vision, looking for any possible escape. I notice the energy field she has me in is only around my chest, pinning my arms to my torso. I still have full use of my legs and partial use of my forearms. I quickly reach down at my belt, searching for any tool I may have left that could possibly help me. My hand finds a small canister just behind my back, which I recognize as a flash grenade. Thankfully, it's small enough to be hidden by balling my hand into a fist, because Raven's attention is back on me.

"What did you do?" She demands.

"I didn't kill them if that's what you're asking. Not my style."

"That doesn't answer my question."

She's glaring at me again, and I feel small beads of sweat begin to run down my forehead.

"Like I said, they're not dead. Just unconscious. They'll be fine in a few hours."

"Fine." She says, her tone relaxing the slightest bit. "I'll just have to take you back to the cops."

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck._

"You know," I try again, "You could let me go."

"I _could _also crush you in that little trap you're in."

_Sadistic, isn't she?_

"But first," she starts back up, "you're going to let go of whatever it is that's in your hand."

"Damn," I say, actually impressed. "You're good."

"Now!"

"If you insist..."

I flick my wrist, throwing the grenade straight at her, and by an unbelievable stroke of luck, the flash goes off right in front of Raven's face. I hear her scream, and the field of energy holding me prisoner disappears. My cue to leave. I don't waste any time, grabbing the duffel bag, slinging it back over my shoulder, and hauling ass over to the other side of the rooftop while Raven's still distracted. I jump off the edge, barely making it across the alley to the roof across from me. I repeat the cycle for God knows how long, motivated by fear, a desire to stay out of jail, and, I guess, the burning will to prove myself.

After a while, I stop. My heart is pounding furiously in my chest, and my legs are on fire. I bend over and rest my hands on my knees, waiting for my breathing to stop being so fucking deep and heavy, and for my heart rate to slow down. Jesus Christ, I'm out of shape. I stand up, and look behind me. No sign of Raven, or the other Titans. After a moment, when my breaths are relaxed a bit, and I don't feel as though I could fall over at any moment from exhaustion, I can't help but laugh out loud.

I've done it. I've beaten the world famous Teen Titans.

* * *

The sun is starting to come up. I climb the side of this building just a few more feet, before deactivating one of my sticky gloves and unlocking the window, climbing in with haste before anyone can spot me. Once inside, I carelessly throw the duffel bag to the ground, before walking over to the wall and flicking the light switch. I turn around and smile.

_Home sweet home..._

This cover is actually quite genius if I do say so myself. No one would ever suspect the hideout of a master thief to be a five-grand-a-month studio apartment in Jump City, California. I briefly look over my little _casa de Fox. _The main room, split in half containing the living room and the kitchen, and the door over on the side leading to the bed and bathrooms. And of course, the door that only gets used when my fucking landlord wants to complain about something. I make a beeline for the bathroom, stripping out of my gear along the way, swearing that I'll pick it all up later, knowing that I probably won't.

As I reach the bathroom, at this point down to my underwear, I flick on the light, looking in the mirror to see just how much punishment Nightwing put on me.

_Hmm, a few bruises and cuts on parts of my face, and a good bit of my torso. Nothing that won't heal on its own, thank God. Having to get a doctor to look at this could possibly connect a few dots._

I stand there for a moment, absent-mindedly looking myself over in the mirror. _Sweet Jesus, _I think as I look at how scrawny I've gotten since moving to this town. _I've gotta start working out more. _I haven't really seen my fair share of daylight in the past few weeks. Most of my time here has been spent planning the bank job, at which I smile and think about my success. My skin has gotten rather pasty. _Really brings out the Irish in me. _My light auburn hair is getting a little shaggy, too, could be time to go get it cut. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, before shutting off the light and making a beeline for my bed.

* * *

Not even five minutes pass before I'm awoken by a banging at my door.

"Curtis!" comes a muffled shout from the other side.

Great. It's my fucking landlord.

I drag myself out of bed, hastily picking up my gear off the living room floor, and shoving it under my couch, before going to answer the door, still in my underwear.

"What?!" I almost shout as I open the door to greet the moody, middle-aged bastard.

"Well, if aint _Ben Curtis,_" he says, scowling at the mention of my name, "my least favorite tenant."

"I was sleeping." I say, returning his hostility. "What is it, Mr. Price?"

"You're late on rent."

"No, I paid you last week."

"The rent's gone up."

"Bullshit. Why?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, it fucking matters!" I'm seriously losing my patience with this son of a bitch.

His eyes narrow. "Listen, punk, I know there's no way in hell a nineteen year old kid could afford an apartment like this with anything legit."

I roll my eyes.

"So either you pony up, or I call the cops to come search this place."

"The cops, huh?" I laugh. "Is that what you're gonna do?"

Mr. Price crosses his arms, smiling and nodding, which sets me right over the fucking edge.

"Okay. Go ahead. Call the cops."

His smile disappears.

"I'm sure they'll be very interested to know why you have all your tenants pay with cash only."

His eyes widen, and a smirk starts to adorn my own face.

"I think they'll be frothing at the mouth when they find out you've been committing tax fraud."

"How in the hell-" he begins.

I cut him off with his own words. "Does it matter?"

He says nothing. I win.

"Now, Mr. Price. If you'll be so kind as to let me rest, I'll be more than happy to pay you when the rent is due. Next. Month."

"Uhh..." he stammers. "Yeah. That sounds good."

"Thank you." I say as I slam the door in his face. I fucking hate that guy.

* * *

After laying awake in bed for close to six hours, I realize there's no way I'm going to be able to go back to sleep after my landlord's little interruption, so I throw on a pair of worn-out, baggy jeans, and my old _Five Finger Death Punch _shirt that's still way too big for me, before plopping on the couch and turning on my lovely 72 inch TV.

Beep.

_"I am Son Goku, and I am a Super Saiyan!"_

Click.

_"We're on a mission from God, Elwood."_

Click.

_"Hello, I'm the Doctor."_

Click.

_"Assassin's Creed: Unity. Rated M for Mature."_

_Jesus, _I think. _There is nothing on._

Click.

The next channel just so happens to be the local news. More importantly, there's a picture of none other than the Titans in the corner, standing behind a few podiums. I turn the volume up.

_"...In which the unknown thief made off with nearly two million dollars lifted from private accounts. Let's go live to City Hall, where the Titans have answered Mayor Freemont's request for a press conference."_

Well, would you look at that. I'm making headlines already. I smile. I lean towards the screen, getting a good look as Nightwing pops up, front and center.

_"He calls himself, 'The Grey Fox.' I don't know who he is, where he came from, or what he may be planning to do with the money he stole. But rest assured, myself and my teammates will be working around the clock to discover just what his intentions are. This thief may have gotten lucky this time, but we WILL bring him to justice."_

I turn off the TV and let it soak in. I've done something that very few people have been able to do. I beat the Titans at their own game, and now the entire city knows my name. Well, my pseudonym, at least. I put my hands behind my head and lean back in the couch.

_Watch out, Jump. It's my town now..._


	5. Raven Interlude I

_**Hours earlier, Titans Tower**_

* * *

There are sounds of frustration as the five of us make our way into the common room. Cyborg is checking his systems to make sure everything is still in working order. Changeling is complaining about his eye. Starfire looks as though she's about to cry. Myself and Nightwing, as usual, are remaining silent, our expressions emotionless. I can feel my anger bubbling inside me, despite my best efforts to suppress it. That little punk played me. Well, he played all of us. I shouldn't be so upset by what's happened tonight. This isn't the first time a criminal has escaped our grasp, and even then, we always catch them in the end.

But this guy... what did Nightwing say his name was? The Fox?

He did something very few people have ever been able to do. He got into my head. He forced me to let my emotions overcome my better judgement, and as a result, I let him get away.

_What's it gonna take? A comment about how good your legs look in the moonlight?_

My teeth grit, and my hands ball into fists at the mere thought. I quickly close my eyes, take a deep breath, and begin my mantra, albeit in my own head.

_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..._

_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..._

_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..._

I take a seat on my own little couch, the one that's been reserved for years as my "special reading spot." I don't know who this thief is, but he won't get the upper hand on me again.

"Titans! Meeting." Nightwing's voice snaps us all back to reality. I open my eyes, taking in the sight of him standing near our kitchen, motioning the rest of us over. He doesn't look amused. But then, he hardly ever does these days. I stand up off the couch, and make my way over to our leader, all the while quickly glancing over my comrades.

We've all changed so much over the past few years. The cybernetic systems in Cyborg's body have been upgraded a number of times, and he's essentially a walking tank now, armed to the teeth with the latest and greatest technological weapons built right into him, yet still every bit as human as the rest of us. Beast Boy, whoops, I mean, Changeling, had a pretty significant growth spurt about a year ago, so he's no longer the short, skinny runt he used to be. And God only knows what possessed him to trade in his old black and purple outfit for the new white and red one. Cyborg's made a few jokes about him being a "flamer." I've tried not to laugh at them, to no avail. And Nightwing (where did he come up with _that _name?) is practically a different person. When we called him Robin, he used to have a nice balance between being a tough leader, and a good friend. Even though he's still a friend, his tough leader side seems to have taken over, hence the new outfit, new gadgets, new personality, and good lord, the hair. He could probably sit on it by now.

The only ones who haven't really changed that much are myself and Starfire. She's still the same bubbly, carefree alien princess she was when I met her, and although she's significantly less naive than she was, she's still got a long way to go.

Imagine that. All my friends have gone through drastic transformations in the past few years, and yet I'm the only one who's hardly changed. Me. The one who used to make fun of everyone else for being "too immature" hasn't matured at all in the last five years. The irony isn't lost on me.

We're all gathered around Nightwing, who's leaning back against the cupboard, contemplating his words. When he finally speaks, we all listen.

"What happened tonight was unacceptable."

Yep. Here comes the ball busting.

"Every single one of us had the chance to stop this guy, and we all failed."

I briefly look over at my friends once more, each of them wearing the same frustrated, defeated expression on their faces as Nightwing continues.

"We screwed up, and because of that, some two-bit thief made off with God knows how much cash, and made us look like idiots."

"Hey, man," Cyborg interrupts, stepping forward slightly. "I agree we screwed up, but this guy was anything but two-bit. Whoever he was, he was prepared."

"Yeah, and we weren't. Making excuses isn't going to help us, Cyborg." Nightwing brushes him off. "The bottom line is this. We've gotten sloppy."

Even though he's being rather asshole-ish about it, Nightwing is right. The five of us aren't quite the fighters we used to be. It's understandable, of course. We haven't had to face a real threat in close to five years, what with most of our old enemies still cryogenically frozen back at the Brotherhood of Evil's base in Paris.

"Well, _bossman,"_ Cyborg retorts, beginning to get annoyed, "It's hard to be anything other than sloppy when your systems have been completely shut down."

Before Nightwing can fire back, Changeling pipes up with, "Or if he punches you in your fucking eye!"

This sets Nightwing over the edge.

"Enough about your damn eye, Changeling!" He begins to yell, getting right up in Changeling's face, poking him in the chest. "You think you're the only one on this team who ever got injured during a fight?"

"Dude, I-"

"Don't _dude _me! You're becoming a weak link in this team, Changeling!"

Uh-oh. This won't end well.

"And weak links have no place protecting this city!"

_"STOP!" _Now it's Starfire's turn to speak up. "Boyfriend Nightwing, you must not blame Changeling for what happened!"

"Starfire..." Nightwing says to her sternly, trying to get her to back down.

"Do not _Starfire _me!" She shouts, throwing his own words back at him. She steps in between Nightwing and Changeling, finally convincing our leader to back away slightly.

"We are _all _to blame for the escaping of this _'Grey Fox.' _You included." She pokes him in the chest. I can tell Nightwing is beyond pissed off right now, he tries to retort something back at Starfire, then Cyborg jumps back in, and before long, all four of them are just arguing back and forth like politicians or something. I growl, cursing under my breath before finally screaming,

_"SHUT UP!"_

I might not be the leader of this team, but one thing's for sure. When I speak, the others listen. It immediately becomes so quiet you could hear a pin drop

"It's my fault." I say, simply to try and diffuse the situation.

"How is it any more your fault than ours?" Nightwing asks of me, crossing his arms.

"I was the last one to confront him. I'm the one who let him get away."

Cyborg tries to speak up and reassure me, right at the same time Nightwing tries to say something, and within moments they're all squabbling again. I roll my eyes, opting to just sit this one out. I tried, at least.

"We're supposed to be the protectors of this city! How about we start acting like it?!" Nightwing shouts at nobody in particular.

"How about you start acting like more of a leader and less of a dictator?!" Cyborg fires back.

_Oh, God, _I think. _He didn't just say that._

I'm expecting Nightwing to completely lose it and tear Cyborg a new one, but instead he does something none of us could have anticipated. He stays silent. He even backs off a little, before pinching the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. The silence that follows is incredibly uncomfortable for all of us, it only lasts a few moments, but it feels like an eternity. Nightwing takes yet another breath, before speaking up once more,

"I'm sorry, you guys."

Wow. Bravo, Cyborg. You finally got through to him.

"I've been so wrapped up in our _"hero" _duties, I guess I have been acting kind of like a dictator."

He's apologizing. I honestly never thought I'd see something like this again. Everyone else steps in, Cyborg gives him a clap on the shoulder, Starfire hugs him, Changeling spouts some generic _"It's okay, we forgive you" _stuff, and for a moment, I feel like we have our old leader back. I can't help but smile just a little. After a short, but touching moment, our leader pipes back up,

"Having said that, though, it's high time we get back into fighting shape."

Everyone else, myself included, nods. We can't afford to be this sloppy should this Fox guy strike again.

"So get some rest while you can. I want everyone on the training course at sunrise."

And with that, we're dismissed.

* * *

On the walk back to my room, I can't help but keep thinking about the thief. The Grey Fox. Sounds like some cliché one-dimensional character from one of Changeling's video games. And yet he got into my head so effortlessly, that he managed to get away from me, using a tool that I _knew _he had in his hand, no less. It was careless of me, but one thing's for sure. I won't let it happen again next time.

My inner monologue is interrupted by a familiar figure waiting by my door. Nightwing.

"Hey," is all he says as I approach.

"Hey," I return. "I figured you'd be going to bed with everyone else."

"I'm going to," he says, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "But first, I need a brutally honest opinion."

I can't help but raise an eyebrow. "Regarding what?"

"Have I really been that much of a dick lately?"

I sigh, putting my hand up to the new fingerprint scanner on my door.

"Yeah," I say as the doors open. "You kinda have."


End file.
